Ultra-rugged AC/DC UPS optimised for 24V long-term bridging

by Jamie Bullock · Published 26th April 2024 · Updated 26th April 2024

Emergency power supply with IP65 protection and LiFePO4 battery technology

The newly introduced AC/DC UPS solution UPSI-2406IP-38AC from Bicker Elektronik, Donauwoerth/Germany, ensures uninterruptible power supply of safety-relevant 24VDC applications, such as control and regulation modules, embedded box IPCs, drives, actuators, sensors, lighting and safety technology in case of AC mains failure and voltage dips. The particularly safe and long-life LiFePO4 battery technology is used as energy storage and enables up to 100h long-term bridging. The intelligent DC emergency power supply with AC wide-range input thus reliably avoids system failures, downtimes and data loss. The particularly robust design with IP65 protection makes the new UPSI-2406IP-38AC the ideal choice for demanding environmental conditions. Typical applications include heavy industry, petrochemicals, tunneling and mining, security and building services, energy, infrastructure, environmental technology, communications, lighting technology, commercial and special vehicles, food industry, chemicals and agriculture.
Robust aluminium housing with protection class IP65

The high-quality aluminium housing protects all components of the emergency power supply from mechanical impact: Both the intelligent DC UPS control and charging electronics (24V/6A) with upstream AC/DC converter and the integrated lithium iron phosphate battery pack. The sealed housing elements and connections are resistant to water, ice, oil and dust in accordance with protection class IP65. An integrated pressure compensation element with membrane prevents condensation inside the unit. The operating temperature range of the UPSI-2406IP-38AC extends from -20 to +50°C. The high-quality ÖLFLEX® input and output cables are permanently installed on the housing. Four slotted holes allow safe and flexible wall or pole mounting of the AC/DC UPS. A pole-mounting kit is available as an option.

24VDC long-term bridging up to 100 hours

Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) of sensitive or safety-related 24VDC systems supplied from the AC mains is particularly important in case of blackouts, brownouts or flicker. For international use, the UPSI-2406IP-38AC has a wide-range AC input from 90 to 264 VAC with active PFC and high-efficiency AC/DC converter topology. In AC mains operation, which is automatically set after the input voltage is applied, the 24VDC output is activated and the integrated LiFePO4 energy storage is charged at the same time. In case of a voltage drop of the input voltage below the smallest nominal value, the UPS is switched to battery operation with regulated DC output voltage within fractions of a second and enables backup times of up to 100h. When the AC input voltage returns, the UPS is automatically switched back to regular mains operation and charging of the energy storage continues.

Integrated LiFePO4 high-performance battery pack

The LiFePO4 energy storage (lithium iron phosphate) with 330Wh convinces in safety-relevant applications with a particularly stable battery chemistry, a long service life of at least 10 years and more than 6000 full charge and discharge cycles. Bicker Elektronik deliberately uses the particularly safe lithium iron phosphate chemistry for all high-performance battery packs, which makes thermal runaway almost impossible. The UPSI-2406IP-38AC also meets the safety requirements of the IEC/EN 62040-1 standard. The battery management system (BMS) monitors and controls the complete charging and discharging process of each battery cell of the energy storage unit. The integrated cell balancing ensures a balanced and even charge of all cells so that the full capacity of the lithium iron phosphate battery pack remains permanently usable. In addition, the UPSI-2406IP-38AC offers a battery start function, which makes it possible to start a 24V application from the battery by pressing a button on the UPS (up to 6 A max. load current), without the AC voltage supply being present.